The Schlappin bell

Today was extremely hot with a cloudless blue sky. We decided to get the gondola up Madrisa mountain and walk down to Schlappin, because today a special event was taking place in this tiny Walser hamlet. 

A bell that was made in 1511 for the Swiss hamlet of Schlappin was stolen in the 1600's by the Austrians. In this image the area behind this mountain is Austria, so you can see the border is very close by. The Walser people went back over the mountain and stole their bell back, and since that time it has remained in Klosters and it was only ever rung to announce the death of a child. Today the bell was taken back up the valley to the hamlet of Schlappin and installed in this newly built tiny bell tower, as can be seen in this image.

We walked down here from the top of the mountain so only arrived there after the speeches (a blessing really as the Swiss love their speeches and they do tend to go on a bit!) There were musicians playing traditional music and people dressed in national dress, it was very festive and a happy occasion. 

We continued on down the valley and walked back to Klosters. It was scorching hot today, it was 32C in the shade of the terrace when we got back to the apartment! There were other events of the trail race that the youngsters did last night, today there was a 24km race with an elevation of 1247m, a 33km race with an elevation of 2200m, and a 54km race with an elevation of 4020m - in this heat it was extremely challenging for those runners, who we saw as we were walking over and down the mountain. We struggled walking in this heat, and they were running in it! Huge respect for those runners today.